Gasala Gutti Vankaya Curry

Vankaya .. the ‘king’ of all vegetables as known! Vankaya is one such vegetable which is no doubt loved by all for the delicious dishes it makes. It’s very unfair to not talk about gutti vankaya curry(one among famous andhra recipes) when it comes to the king veggie vankaya 🙂 This famous traditional Indian recipe can be shown with lots of variations though! Gutti vankaya curry in the south is like similar to bagara baingan in the north Indian food. Plenty varieties of stuffing can go into these 4 side slitted brinjals. Unlike the well-known peanut-garlic masala or lentils-onion masala, I am bringing out a way different stuffing which was introduced to me by my Peddamma(aunt :)) . Poppy seeds are the key ingredient in this recipe. The dish turned out to be so tasty! I can bet on it as Ravi(my hubby, a brinjal reluctant person) has licked off two full stuffed brinjals. Let me not keep tempting you anymore.. here is the recipe. Happy cooking!

Bring all the ingredients listed under “For stuffing” into a mixi jar.

Make a fine paste of it adding water as needed. Do not make too loose.

Slit the brinjals into 4 to it’s half. Look down in the picture which clearly shows how the slits should exactly be.

Heat oil in a non-stick pan and while it’s getting heated up, stuff the above stuffing mixture into the brinjals using a spatula. Place them in the oil once done. Sauté them once and sprinkle little salt over the brinjals. Probably 1 tsp. Sprinkle handful of water on the brinjals and sauté them again. Close the lid and let them cook for about 5-7 min.

Open the lid and sauté the brinjals once and turn them over one by one. Now observe how the bottom part got cooked in the picture below. The other side which you have turned now should turn into the same. So, close the lid again and let them cook for another 5-7 min. Observe if they need some water. If the pan has no moisture at all…, sprinkle a handful of water again.

Open the lid and see, the brinjals should become really soft and tender oozing out the stuffed mixture slightly. That it is when they are perfectly cooked.

Now add some coriander leaves to the remaining mixture if interested, and bring the whole mixture into the pan.

Mix the masala paste along with brinjals and let it cook for 2 mins without the lid.

Turn off the heat and collect the curry into serving bowl and enjoy it with Plain rice/Biryani/Roti.. what not!!